Productivity is a big concept in the business world, and we’re lucky to have an expert on our regular writing team here at Career Girl, Melissa Foster. But for this afternoon’s productivity tips, we’re giving you the best of the best from Fast Company and their experts. What are some of the best productivity “hacks” out there? Here are some of our favorites:
Keep Email From Crushing You With “OHIO”
That stands for “only handle it once”–a technique that’s espoused by productivity expert Bob Pozen and practiced by Huge CEO and Fast Company contributor Aaron Shapiro.“No ‘I’ll respond later’ is allowed,” Shapiro says. “Responding later means you take three times longer to get through your email than taking care of it the first time, because responding later means you have to waste time finding and rereading that email… or even worse, the time wasted reminding yourself over and over to get to that message.”
(It should be noted: Shapiro responded quickly to our request for productivity tips. He’s not lying.)
Get Tough With Self-Imposed Deadlines
David Brier, chief executive at DBD International, looks for bottlenecks in his work–incessantly bothersome tasks like email (there it is again!).“Determine the amount of traffic you get (could be emails, or whatever) in an area that bottlenecks, then decide on a ‘cut-off’ period for that traffic,” he advises.
For example, if you have non-urgent emails that you’ve left for later, determine a time period after which you toss them–be it days or weeks.
“If it didn’t warrant an immediate response and now has zero impact, recognize it’s not vital to your existence or input, toss it and move on,” he says. “Or as Shark Kevin O’Leary says, ‘You’re dead to me.’”
Check out more productivity tips in Fast Company’s “11 Productivity Hacks from Super Productive People.”
About the Author: Marcy Twete
Marcy Twete is the Founder and CEO of Career Girl Network and the author of the book “You Know Everybody! A Career Girl’s Guide to Building a Network That Works.” At Career Girl Network, Marcy provides women with information, resources, and networking to empower them in their careers and to advance the work of women in business as a whole. Prior to launching Career Girl Network, Marcy worked in numerous nonprofit organizations and as a consultant in the field of nonprofit fundraising, marketing, and community relations. Marcy is a graduate of the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and a native of rural North Dakota. She is the Vice Chair of the Chicago Board of Directors for Step Up Women’s Network in Chicago and a member of the Advisory Board for Girls on the Run Twin Cities, and is dedicated to advancing the work of organizations that move the needle for women and girls worldwide.
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